One Life
by TheRev28
Summary: Could one live possibly be enough time with the one you love? As Ruby lies on her deathbed, Weiss decides it's not.


**A/N: Hello! So I know I've been gone for...a long time. And I return with something that isn't WttNF! I've recently been pulled into the RWBY fandom, and this is my first attempt at fanfiction outside of Mass Effect. It's a White Rose fic based loosely on the Mass Effect fic called _The Hundred Year Distance_. I hope y'all enjoy!**

**One Life**

_One life is not a long time when you're waiting for a small sign._

She thought they'd have a few more years at least. But as the doctors had been so keen to point out, the life of a Huntress took its toll on the body. Most were lucky to have the luxury of going peacefully, let alone at almost 80 years old. She clutched her wife's now-frail hand as she politely motioned for the doctor to leave them alone. Her wife laid her head back on the pillow, the same stupid smile spread across her face. Weiss took in the sight of her lying there and rejected the idea that 60 years was enough time with Ruby.

##########

If someone had told Weiss Schnee the direction her life would take when she entered Beacon Academy at age seventeen, she would have laughed in their face. She was the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, not some commoner.

She grew up constantly striving to make her father proud or happy. Though most days, she would have settled for simply getting his attention. It seemed like every day was another company crisis, and little Weiss just didn't factor into the business model. She took to anything that he showed the tiniest sliver of interest in. A small nod when he heard her sing, an infinitesimal upturn of the mouth when he saw her fencing progress, anything. Anything to pull him from work for just a moment.

Beacon Academy was her chance to make a name for herself from out of her family's shadow. A chance to make her father realize that he had a daughter-and an incredible one at that.

The thought that she would meet an impetuous girl and go down the path of love was childish at best. It was ridiculous. It was laughable.

It was exactly what happened.

##########

Ruby's eyes found Weiss', and that stupid smile somehow got even bigger.

"I thought he would never leave," she said hoarsely. Before she could continue, a racking cough erupted from her small frame. "Now I have my queen all to myself."

Weiss' expression softened. "You're such a dork, you know that?"

##########

Weiss didn't realize the full extent of her feelings until their second year at Beacon. Well, more specifically, until their first real separation between years one and two. Having to go back to that mansion so full of people yet feeling more empty than Team RWBY's dorm was like a childhood nightmare return.

For the longest time, she tried telling herself that she just missed the atmosphere of Beacon. Then she narrowed it down to missing her team. In the last week before returning for year two, she admitted to herself that she missed that bed hanging precariously above hers, that bed where Ruby slept.

She missed Ruby.

When they returned to Beacon, Weiss tried to pretend that everything was the same. And for the most part, everything was. Yang was still Yang, Blake was still Blake, and Ruby was still Ruby.

If anything, that was the problem. Ruby hadn't changed a bit, and now that Weiss was aware of her feelings, she noticed every little detail about their fearless leader: the gleam in her silver eyes when taking care of Crescent Rose, the sadness on her face when she thought no one was looking, the way her expression softened whenever she was around Weiss.

Alright, so Weiss might have been imagining that last one. Though, she certainly hoped she wasn't.

##########

"Hey, I wasn't the one who was too chicken to make the first move," Ruby said. She looked so tired.

"I was not scared!" Weiss said, more out of habit than any real sense of offense.

Ruby leaned back in her bed and closed her eyes, a small smirk making itself known.

##########

Even though Ruby had technically made the first move, it never would have happened if not for Blake and Yang. Halfway through their second year, those two were already together. Neither Weiss nor Ruby ever learned what ignited their relationship, but once that flame was lit, nothing would put it out.

On an altogether unimportant day near the middle of the year, Ruby somehow convinced Weiss to hide in the closet with her so that they could scare Yang and Blake when they got back. While Weiss put up a facade of resistance, she was thrilled at the prospect of being in a confined space with Ruby.

When Yang and Blake returned, however, things didn't go according to plan. Upon returning to an empty room, they immediately began having what Ruby called "couple time." Based on the sounds emanating from the other side of the door, it wasn't hard for Weiss to guess what they were doing out there. It made her heart race.

"I think I messed up," Ruby whispered, trying to reposition herself in the tiny closet. Weiss became aware of just how close they were.

"You dolt. Who knows how long we could be stuck in here?"

They stood in the closet silently, listening to Yang and Blake. Occasionally, Weiss stole glances at her leader. Sometimes they made eye contact, and Weiss would quickly avert her eyes.

After fifteen minutes, they heard the door to their room open then shut. They waited thirty more seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. Before Weiss could open the door, she felt Ruby shift next to her. Phantom lips left a fleeting kiss on her cheek, and Ruby bolted out of the closet before Weiss could process what just happened.

A week later, they had a talk and decided to give it a try.

##########

"I seem to recall a certain heiress being the one to pop the question," Weiss said, matching Ruby's smirk. She rubbed the back of her wife's hand with her thumb, feeling the ring still in place after all these years.

##########

After they graduated from Beacon, Ruby dove headfirst into her career as a Huntress. Weiss, on the other hand, took a position at the academy she so recently graduated from.

There were times when Ruby wouldn't return to their small apartment for a few days, and it honestly terrified Weiss. Not that she would admit it to anyone if they pointed out her behavior change. It was just the stress of the new job, she would tell anyone rude enough to ask. Usually first years who didn't know any better.

When Ruby returned from those long hunts, she found herself under Weiss' watchful eye for at least two days. They never knew when another job would come up, so Ruby didn't really mind. Seeing her girlfriend get super protective was rather endearing.

Two years after their graduation, Ruby took a special job. Straight from Professor Ozpin himself. She was gone for over a week. After the fourth day, Weiss began to really worry. A job had never taken that long. What if she didn't come back? What if she was hurt, or...or…

Her performance at the Academy suffered. On the sixth day of Ruby's absence, Professor Goodwitch told her to go home, to take off until she "felt better." Both women knew what that really meant.

On the ninth day, Weiss was sitting at the kitchen table, once again reading over reports of Grimm activity in the area that Ruby had been sent. The door opened, and her head shot up to see a familiar form silhouetted in the door frame. She burst out of her chair and rushed to the door, putting an arm around her girlfriend's waist. Ruby looked positively exhausted, and...were those bandages around her right shoulder and left knee?

"Ruby Rose, what on Remnant did you do to yourself?" Weiss said, guiding her over to the couch and lying Ruby down on it.

"It wasn't my fault! There were lots of Ursa, then there was a really big Ursa, then a Death Stalker showed up, and-"

"Then it's Ozpin's fault for letting you go alone."

"Weiss, why are you getting so worked up over this?" Ruby asked, furrowing her brow.

"Because...because...you're injured."

"I'm a Huntress. Sometimes I get hurt. It's part of the job."

"Then it's a stupid job," Weiss muttered. Something seemed to click in her mind, and she knew what she had to do. "Well if you're going to insist on getting injured, I need to be able to legally protect what's mine."

"Weiss, what-"

"Ruby Rose, will you marry me?"

##########

"You always were my Princess Charming," Ruby said. "And so good with the kids, too." She paused, and for a moment, Weiss thought she had fallen asleep. Ruby opened her eyes and looked at Weiss. The look almost broke her heart. "They are coming, right?"

Weiss' smile turned sad. "If they hadn't taken after you, they'd be here already."

##########

Kids had never really been part of the equation. After their marriage, things continued as they had been. Ruby continued to go on hunts, and Weiss continued working her way up the ladder at Beacon. They were happy. Married life seemed to suit them.

A few months after their five-year anniversary, Weiss was offered a professorship. She accepted and became one of the youngest professors to teach at the academy. Ruby was also being offered more high-profile jobs as her reputation grew. Eventually, they decided to buy a real, honest-to-goodness house and move out of the small apartment they had had since graduation. Good thing, too.

A year later, Ruby came home from a job, but she wasn't alone. She was carrying a small bundle of cloth with her, and as Weiss went to hug her, she realized the bundle was making noises.

"Ruby Rose, what on Remnant have you done?" Weiss said, looking down at the bundle.

"Umm...surprise?" Ruby said.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"If you think it's a cute little baby, then yes."

A pregnant pause followed Ruby's reply.

"Why do you have a baby?" Weiss asked once it became apparent that Ruby would offer no further information without prompt.

"Well, you see, I was out on the hunt, right? And I was supposed to check on this little cottage out in the woods because the person who hired me thought it might be in danger. So I kill all the monsters around it and see if there's anyone there." She looked down at the baby in her arms. "And I found this little guy. No sign of anyone else in the area, and I couldn't just leave him there."

"Yes, so you take it to the police and let them handle it. You can't just take a baby home, you dunce! Even if it's an orphan and we decide to adopt it, there are procedures to follow."

"'He', not 'it'," Ruby said quietly.

"What?"

"This baby is a he, not an it, Weiss."

Weiss saw the look in her wife's eyes. She had learned better than to argue with that look. She sighed.

"You've made up your mind already, haven't you?"

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "His name's Robin."

Weiss sighed again. "I'll start getting the paperwork together."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Ruby said, her eyes lighting up and a smile breaking out all over her face. She kissed Weiss then looked down at her little bundle of joy. "Hi little Robin. We're your new mommies."

Weiss wasn't at all surprised when, two years later, the same thing happened again. Ruby came home from a hunt with another small bundle, and Weiss simply looked at her wife and asked, "So what's this baby's name?"

"Her name's Rose," Ruby said, tickling the baby's chin.

"We can't name her that, you dolt. Your last name is Rose."

"Then she'll just have your last name," Ruby said, as if it made perfect sense. Weiss honestly couldn't think of a way to argue that, so she got to work on the paperwork she had stashed away because she had known this would happen again.

She made Ruby promise that it wouldn't happen again.

##########

"It's not my fault they wanted to take after their mother. I'm just too cool," Ruby said with a chuckle that turned into a cough.

"They _did_ have very good role models while growing up."

##########

Time passed, as it is wont to do, and the Rose-Schnee family settled into a comfortable routine. Weiss became the de facto stay-at-home mom-though she still kept her professorship at Beacon. Ruby was the one who would disappear for days at a time but return with some sort of gift for Robin and Rose.

One day, when Robin was eight, he came up to Weiss after Ruby had just left for a hunt.

"Mommy, why does Momma not say bye when she goes away?" he asked, looking like he was trying to solve some great puzzle.

The question caught Weiss off guard. Ruby had told her years ago what happened with her mother, but Weiss didn't think that was appropriate to tell an eight-year-old. So she did her best to tell the truth without telling the truth.

"Your momma thinks that if she doesn't say goodbye, then she's not really gone. She just isn't here right now."

Robin seemed to consider that answer for a few seconds before he nodded and said, "Okay. Can I have a cookie, Mommy?"

Weiss smiled and kissed her son's forehead. "Not yet, my little bird. It's almost dinner, and I don't want you spoiling your appetite."

When Robin turned 17, he got accepted to Beacon, and his mothers couldn't have been prouder. Though when he was about to board the airship that would take him to the academy, Weiss made sure to inform him that he would get no special treatment from her should he have one of her classes.

Two years later, Rose followed her brother to Beacon, and Weiss told her the exact same thing.

They each graduated in their four years, and at each graduation, Weiss would pull Ruby close, kiss her cheek, and say, "Thank you for being a stubborn little dork."

Weiss turned 60 without even realizing it. Robin had graduated ten years ago, and Rose eight. They were both Hunters with spouses of their own-no grandchildren, though. Weiss was not ready to think of herself as a grandmother.

She was still teaching at Beacon, rivaling old Professor Port's tenure before he passed away. She had taught through two headmasters after Ozpin, and it was rumored that the current one would retire soon. Sure enough, a few months after her birthday, the headmaster retired.

He had chosen Weiss to replace him. She accepted, marvelling at how far she had come with this school.

All the while, Ruby still took jobs. Even at 58, she never slowed down. Weiss, as the new headmaster, occasionally went on hunts with her wife, something they hadn't done together since their days as part of Team RWBY.

They felt invincible together. Nothing could stop them.

##########

Ruby coughed again, but this one didn't seem to stop. It broke Weiss' heart to see her wife like this.

"I wish I could have one last cookie before the end," Ruby muttered once her coughing died down. Weiss took both of Ruby's hands in hers, feeling the tears well up in the corners of her eyes. "You better not do anything stupid after I'm gone. I will not hesitate to come back and put you in your place."

"That's...p-pretty extreme, Ruby," Weiss said. Ruby laughed, and continued to laugh through the coughs that came with it. Weiss looked at wife, seeing her flaming spirit trapped in a body that refused to work.

"Ruby, you...I… You can't...can't leave me like this," Weiss trailed off, and a tear began to run down her cheeks.

"I'm your partner, remember? I'll never leave you." Weiss felt the grip on her hands grow weaker, and each breath her wife took was more ragged than the last.

And suddenly, Weiss was back at Beacon, in the woods for their initiation. She met those big, silver eyes, and her life was never the same again.

"I just...I don't think I can do this without, Ruby. I don't want to be alone again." She presses Ruby's hands against her forehead, shutting her eyes tight, not wanting to break down now of all times. Ruby put a hand on Weiss' cheek and wiped a tear away with her thumb.

"Don't worry, Weiss…"

And there she was, as fast as light and shining just as bright, breaking free of the tired, worn out body that trapped her. She was pulling Weiss along, always going faster, guiding them through 60 years together. Weiss kissed her hand one last time, tears flowing freely, and honored her beloved leader, partner, friend, wife as words floated on her final breath.

"...You won't be the loneliest."


End file.
